Michael W. Apple

Since 1979, Ideology and Curriculum has been a path breaking statement on the relationship between cultural and economic power in education. The new edition of this now classic text has been updated by celebrated author and activist Michael W. Apple to include a full new chapter on the book’s lasting critical agenda in the context of the contemporary conservative climate. A new substantive preface introduces the fourth edition, reflecting on earlier arguments and developments from the intervening years while a concluding interview details the author’s background and continuing efforts toward building a more equitable society. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its publication, this highly-anticipated new edition firmly situates Ideology and Curriculum as one of the most important education titles of our time.

Since 1979, Ideology and Curriculum has been a path breaking statement on the relationship between cultural and economic power in education. The new edition of this now classic text has been updated by celebrated author and activist Michael W. Apple to include a full new chapter on the book’s lasting critical agenda in the context of the contemporary conservative climate. A new substantive preface introduces the fourth edition, reflecting on earlier arguments and developments from the intervening years while a concluding interview details the author’s background and continuing efforts toward building a more equitable society. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its publication, this highly-anticipated new edition firmly situates Ideology and Curriculum as one of the most important education titles of our time.

First published in 1982, Education and Power remains an important volume for those committed to critical education. In this text Michael Apple first articulated his theory on educational institutions and the reproduction of and resistance to unequal power relations, and provided a thorough examination of the ways in which race-gender-class dynamics are embedded in, and reflected through, curricular issues. While many of the theories set forward in this book are now taken for granted by the left in education, they were nothing short of revolutionary when first proposed. In this newly reissued classic edition, Apple suggests that we need to take seriously the complicated and contradictory economic, political and cultural structures that provide for some of the most important limits on, and possibilities for, critical education. He re-examines his earlier arguments and reflects on what has happened over the intervening years. Education and Power is a vital example of the call to challenge the assumptions that underpin so much of what happens in education.

This third edition of Official Knowledge, a classic text from one of education’s most distinguished scholars, challenges readers to critically examine how certain knowledge comes to be “official,” and whose agendas this knowledge represents. A probing and award-winning study, this new edition builds on the tradition of its predecessors to question the rightist resurgence in education while substantive updates throughout show how such policies continue to define our commonsense notions about what counts as a good school. A new preface and two full, new chapters address current controversies over curriculum and textbooks, and extend the discussion of previous editions to reflect on some of the most important pressures being placed on higher education as well. Apple also considers the recent conversion of some prominent neoliberal, neoconservative, and managerial thinkers to more critical understandings of educational policies, proving that progressive change is possible if we examine the roots of these ideologies in the first place. As insightful as it is thorough, Official Knowledge is a refreshing call to challenge the dominant forces within education today, as Apple powerfully illustrates how larger social movements are only possible if we purposefully and inclusively deepen our understanding of the existing body of knowledge about education.

This third edition of Official Knowledge, a classic text from one of education’s most distinguished scholars, challenges readers to critically examine how certain knowledge comes to be “official,” and whose agendas this knowledge represents. A probing and award-winning study, this new edition builds on the tradition of its predecessors to question the rightist resurgence in education while substantive updates throughout show how such policies continue to define our commonsense notions about what counts as a good school. A new preface and two full, new chapters address current controversies over curriculum and textbooks, and extend the discussion of previous editions to reflect on some of the most important pressures being placed on higher education as well. Apple also considers the recent conversion of some prominent neoliberal, neoconservative, and managerial thinkers to more critical understandings of educational policies, proving that progressive change is possible if we examine the roots of these ideologies in the first place. As insightful as it is thorough, Official Knowledge is a refreshing call to challenge the dominant forces within education today, as Apple powerfully illustrates how larger social movements are only possible if we purposefully and inclusively deepen our understanding of the existing body of knowledge about education.

Despite the vast differences between the Right and the Left over the role of education in the production of inequality one common element both sides share is a sense that education can and should do something about society, to either restore what is being lost or radically alter what is there now. The question was perhaps put most succinctly by the radical educator George Counts in 1932 when he asked "Dare the School Build a New Social Order?", challenging entire generations of educators to participate in, actually to lead, the reconstruction of society. Over 70 years later, celebrated educator, author and activist Michael Apple revisits Counts’ now iconic works, compares them to the equally powerful voices of minoritized people, and again asks the seemingly simply question of whether education truly has the power to change society. In this groundbreaking work, Apple pushes educators toward a more substantial understanding of what schools do and what we can do to challenge the relations of dominance and subordination in the larger society. This touchstone volume is both provocative and honest about the ideological and economic conditions that groups in society are facing and is certain to become another classic in the canon of Apple’s work and the literature on education more generally.

Despite the vast differences between the Right and the Left over the role of education in the production of inequality one common element both sides share is a sense that education can and should do something about society, to either restore what is being lost or radically alter what is there now. The question was perhaps put most succinctly by the radical educator George Counts in 1932 when he asked "Dare the School Build a New Social Order?", challenging entire generations of educators to participate in, actually to lead, the reconstruction of society. Over 70 years later, celebrated educator, author and activist Michael Apple revisits Counts’ now iconic works, compares them to the equally powerful voices of minoritized people, and again asks the seemingly simply question of whether education truly has the power to change society. In this groundbreaking work, Apple pushes educators toward a more substantial understanding of what schools do and what we can do to challenge the relations of dominance and subordination in the larger society. This touchstone volume is both provocative and honest about the ideological and economic conditions that groups in society are facing and is certain to become another classic in the canon of Apple’s work and the literature on education more generally.

First published in 1982, Education and Power remains an important volume for those committed to critical education. In this text Michael Apple first articulated his theory on educational institutions and the reproduction of and resistance to unequal power relations, and provided a thorough examination of the ways in which race-gender-class dynamics are embedded in, and reflected through, curricular issues. While many of the theories set forward in this book are now taken for granted by the left in education, they were nothing short of revolutionary when first proposed. In this newly reissued classic edition, Apple suggests that we need to take seriously the complicated and contradictory economic, political and cultural structures that provide for some of the most important limits on, and possibilities for, critical education. He re-examines his earlier arguments and reflects on what has happened over the intervening years. Education and Power is a vital example of the call to challenge the assumptions that underpin so much of what happens in education.

In this timely interdisciplinary volume, William Watkins has brought together leading scholars and activists to address some of the most urgent issues facing public education. What is underneath and behind the language of choice, efficiency, and improvement in current neoliberal discourse? How will urban and poor populations be affected? Will privatization lead to increased stratification in our schools? How can public education not only be saved but re-imagined? In accessible language, renowned contributors explore and critique corporate school reform to both inform and serve as an organizing tool for teachers, parents, students, and citizens committed to genuine public education. Book Features: A comprehensive critique of how corporate power is disrupting universal public education. An illumination of how corporate school reform threatens unions, racial progress, and democracy. An illustration of how private wealth forges public policy. A case study of the public school system in New Orleans.

Spanning an extraordinary 30-year career, this book collects seminal essays by critical theorist Carlos Alberto Torres. Torres is among the foremost scholars devoted to interpreting the work of Paulo Freire and has done much over the years to raise the visibility of Freire's contribution to educational theory. In addition, he has helped to establish the discipline of the political sociology of education. His work on Latin American education has made substantial contributions to the fields of comparative and international education. All of the strands of his thinking, along with his commitment to employing scholarship for social change, are evident in this important collection.

Looks at the educational experiences of poor, working class, and middle class students against the backdrop of complicated class stratification in a shifting global economy. Winner of the 2007 Critics' Choice Award presented by the American Educational Studies Association Late to Class presents theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical perspectives on social class and schooling in the United States. Grounding their analyses at the intersections of class, ethnicity, gender, geography, and schooling, the contributors examine the educational experiences of poor, working class, and middle class students against the backdrop of complicated class stratification in a shifting global economy. Together, they explore the salience of class in understanding the social, economic, and cultural landscapes within which young people in the United States come to understand the meaning of their formal education in times of changing opportunity.

In Critical Literacy Eugene F. Provenzo Jr. challenges E. D. Hirsch's assumptions about culture and education. Calling for a broader and more democratic vision than Hirsch, Provenzo critiques Hirsch's legacy up through the current conservative educational agenda for education which, he argues, denies, not only the United States' diversity, but its democratic traditions of democratic participation. His book shows why critical faculties and skills of students are essential not only to the success of individual students but to their participation in a healthy democracy. Provenzo offers a list of 5,000 things every educated American ought to know-- none of them the same items as those included on Hirsch's list in Cultural Literacy. Critical Literacy is essential reading for those concerned with our schools and the future of our children.

In this book Apple explores the 'conservative restoration' - the rightward turn of a broad-based coalition that is making successful inroads in determining American and international educational policy. It takes a pragmatic look at what critical educators can do to build alternative coalitions and policies that are more democratic. Apple urges this group to extricate itself from its reliance on the language of possibility in order to employ pragmatic analyses that address the material realities of social power.

Presents a critical analysis of the increasing power of conservative movements in educational policy, examining how these movements have affected the practices, ideologies, structures, and assumptions of education.

In Critical Literacy Eugene F. Provenzo Jr. challenges E. D. Hirsch's assumptions about culture and education. Calling for a broader and more democratic vision than Hirsch, Provenzo critiques Hirsch's legacy up through the current conservative educational agenda for education which, he argues, denies, not only the United States' diversity, but its democratic traditions of democratic participation. His book shows why critical faculties and skills of students are essential not only to the success of individual students but to their participation in a healthy democracy. Provenzo offers a list of 5,000 things every educated American ought to know-- none of them the same items as those included on Hirsch's list in Cultural Literacy. Critical Literacy is essential reading for those concerned with our schools and the future of our children.

The State and the Politics of Knowledge extends the insightful arguments Michael Apple provided in Educatingthe "Right" Way in new and truly international directions. Arguing that schooling is, by definition, political, Apple and his co-authors move beyond a critical analysis to describe numerous ways of interrupting dominance and creating truly democratic and realistic alternatives to the ways markets, standards, testing, and a limited vision of religion are now being pressed into schools.

The State and the Politics of Knowledge extends the insightful arguments Michael Apple provided in Educatingthe "Right" Way in new and truly international directions. Arguing that schooling is, by definition, political, Apple and his co-authors move beyond a critical analysis to describe numerous ways of interrupting dominance and creating truly democratic and realistic alternatives to the ways markets, standards, testing, and a limited vision of religion are now being pressed into schools.

Michael W. Apple's critical writings have been influential throughout the world. This collection brings together many of his essays on curriculum, evaluation, and critical educational and cultural theory. In clear and unmystified prose, these essays enhance our understanding of how thoroughly political educational policies and practices actually are. In the process, he illuminates the histories and realities of class, race, and gender in education. Combining work written for a broad and general audience with that aimed at those who are already grounded in the multiple traditions of critical educational studies, Apple's unique voice - nuanced, passionate, and clear - comes through.

Many are convinced that ""liberal"" solutions have failed and that answers to social problems lie in a return to conservative policies and values. As this conservative offensive grows increasingly powerful in education, public schooling itself has come under attack. Michael Apple offers a powerful analysis of current debates and a compelling indictment of rightist proposals for change. Apple presents the causes and effects of integrating schools into the corporate agenda and demonstrates who will be the winners and losers as the conservative restoration gains in strength. Far from defending the status quo, Apple argues that the unresponsive and bureau-cratic nature of many school systems has actually pushed people toward the right. ""Yet,"" he writes, ""during an era when...we face the massive dismantling of the gains that have been made in social welfare, in women's control of their bodies, in relations of race, gender, and sexuality, and in whose knowledge is taught in schools, it is equally important to make certain that these gains are defended."" With this dual focus, this book provides an eloquent defense of the possibility of a more democratic public education.

This book brings together thirty of the best essays from Radical Teacher. The journal is devoted to feminist and socialist approaches to teaching-to showing teachers how to democratize the classroom and empower students. The articles included here have been chosen for their continuing usefulness to school and college teachers with emphasis on critical pedagogy as well as radical course content. These essays provide not only a wealth of ideas for teachers already involved in radical education but also an accessible, readable, and wide-ranging introduction for those new to it.